The intimacy of small-town life and its stifling limitations permeate “Picnic,” which the thoughtfully representative staging at Antaeus Theater Company underscores without telegraphing.
William Inge’s 1953 Pulitzer-winning study of one eventful Labor Day in Eisenhower-era Kansas receives a solid, well-appointed revival, courtesy of director Cameron Watson, some smart designers and an excellent cast.
On designer Robert Selender’s detailed set, the doings between two dovetailed back porches unfold with poetic realism, wry humor and a surging erotic charge. That last is key, since Inge’s narrative turns on sexuality, repressed or otherwise, and, though quaint by present-day standards, it still informs the play (and 1955 film starring William Holden and Kim Novak).